Maggie Blackbird

Today, author Nancy Lee Badger is guesting. She’s talking about her latest release The Rogue’s Ring, book three in the Treasure Tale series, a historical romance. Don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway.

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Scottish Shortbread

Shortbread biscuits, what we Americans call cookies, are one of the treats I search for whenever I attend a Scottish Highland game or festival. No matter if I am enjoying the sights, smells, and sounds in North Carolina, Georgia, or New Hampshire, shortbread is always available.

Shortbread has a long history, probably because it consists of simple ingredients: sugar, butter, and flour. It usually has a crumbly texture, though modern recipes add ingredients to give it a smoother consistency, Some people add icing or dip them in melted chocolate. Baked at a low temperature to keep from turning brown, the pastry is usually nearly white in color. Cooked in various shapes, such as a pizza cut into wedges, you can also find it in bricks and rounds.

As a classic Scottish dessert, it has gone through several changes through history, but the basic taste is different than any other cookie I have ever sampled. My favorites include one dotted with chocolate chips. History says shortbread has been in existence in some form since the twelfth-century, and the refined version is said to have come into vogue around the time of Mary, Queen of Scots.

In The Rogue’s Ring, the heroine uses the excuse to go grab some fresh-baked Scottish shortbread to get away from our hero—before he discovers she drugged his wine. There are plenty of other foods that are mentioned in my book; oatcakes that are hard as rocks, and fish cooked over a fire in a cave, but only shortbread holds my attention.

One can either buy shortbread in a food store or from on-line Scottish vendors or at a Highland Games. Also, it is easy to make. Try it.

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Title: The Rogue’s Ring
Series: A Treasure Tale Novel, book #3
Author: Nancy Lee Badger
Genre: Historical Romance

Blurb: Heading out on his horse, Ghost, into the snowy Highlands of Scotland in January 1817 was not sane, but Bryce Ketteridge would never let down his friends. If a duke, an earl, and a former spy felt finding the owners of nobleman’s rings was important, he would do his share. Coming across masked bandits, and shooting one, turned his life on end. What follows was not in his plans.

The last thing Cat Douglas wished to do was steal coins from the handsome stranger she meets at a tavern. When he later shoots her while she threatened a nobleman’s coach, she suspected he had no idea it was her. Kidnapped boys, pirate threats, and murder propel them to save a boy named Blake. He was, after all, special to them both.

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Where is it? Cat murmured, cursing under her breath as she sought the rest of the stranger’s gold coins. The sleeping draft would not last long. Long enough, she prayed, so she could make her way back home before he woke.

When she couldn’t reach into the bulky overcoat and satchel he slept upon, she dug her fingers into his jacket’s inside pocket.

Success!

Removing her fingers, three more gold coins appeared. As she slipped them down her bodice, two silver eyes glared up at her.

“What are you doing?” The stranger sat up, grabbed both of her wrists, and pulled her into his lap.

“Why, nothing. Ye fell asleep and I dinna’ wish to wake ye. I worried that ye had stopped breathing, ’tis all. ’Twould never do to have a guest of the inn come to any harm. Are ye well?”

He blinked, then lowered his gaze to the tops of her breasts. She could feel the heat stirring from his attention. Was her flesh growing pink with guilt?

Had he seen her hide the coins? Did he realize how much time had passed since she had offered him drugged wine? He ought to be fast asleep, but he blinked again, then growled.

“Please. I must be on my way home.” If she did not leave now, Devlin might slap her once again, or throw her to his men. His threats had grown worse and more depraved. Her plans to escape his influence required money. The three coins she’d stolen from the Englishman would help her achieve her goal.

He stared back at her face, then released one hand and turned her head sideways. “Did someone hit you?”

His warm fingers gently stroked her scar and the newer bruise she had to assume had turned purple. “Aye. ’Tis a consequence of working in such a place. Many travelers curse the weather yet take out their frustrations on whomever strays close. I shall survive.”

“Like the brute who grabbed you by the hair tonight? You seemed to know him, but a stranger would do worse? You need a protector.”

When she attempted a small smile, he released his hold on her chin. In an instant, his free hand strayed down her bodice and gripped the coins.

“Nay!” she cried, to no avail.

“A thief? Strange, since I believe I compensated you more than enough inside.” He pushed her away.

Stumbling backward, she hit the wall, then returned to his side with her fists defiantly on her hips. She could only glare down at him. She was not leaving without those coins. Her future depended on acquiring the means to live elsewhere and free from her brother’s abuse. Those coins could get her and Blake hundreds of miles from him and his pirate crew.

He staggered to his feet. Surprise filled his handsome face at his loss of equilibrium. He tunneled his fingers through his dark hair. Several strands of silver glimmered at his temples, nearly matching the glaring silver of his eyes. Surprised to face eyes the same color as her son’s, she gasped.

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Nancy Lee Badger grew up in Huntington on New York’s Long Island. After attending Plymouth State, in New Hampshire, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree and met and married her college sweetheart. They raised two handsome sons in Rumney, New Hampshire while she dreamed of being a writer. When the children had left the nest, and shoveling snow became a chore, she retired from her satisfying job as a 911 Emergency Medical Dispatcher and moved to North Carolina, where she writes full-time.

Nancy is a member of Romance Writers of America, Heart of Carolina Romance Writers, Fantasy-Futuristic & Paranormal Romance Writers, and the Triangle Association of Freelancers. She finds story ideas in the most unusual places.

Follow Nancy: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Bookbub | Amazon | Goodreads

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